Ye Chengtian finally realized that he had misjudged this worthless man! He thought he was using him, but in truth, it was the other way around. Now, by shifting all the blame onto himself, the man had come out clean!
Ye Chengtian wanted to curse, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out were helpless grunts of “ahh.”
Fang Zhiyi reached out and patted the shoulders of the two stunned guards. “Thank you for seeing him off. When you’re done, go find Li Zizai for your reward.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
Inside the palace, the Emperor was studying a stack of documents before him, a eunuch standing silently nearby.
The Emperor finally set the documents down. “Liu Xian, are you saying that my own blood brother harbors rebellious intentions?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” replied Liu Xian without lifting his head. “I sent spies to investigate. Prince Qi not only keeps a private army but also trains assassins… and he has even made a dragon robe.”
Hearing this, the Emperor’s tone grew noticeably colder. “Liu Xian! You dare to frame Prince Qi? Do you forget that he is my brother?”
Liu Xian knelt unhurriedly, his voice steady. “Your Majesty, every word I speak is true. The Surveillance Bureau under my command oversees all matters under heaven, and I would never utter a falsehood. If Your Majesty doubts me, please visit Prince Qi’s residence and see for yourself.”
The Emperor rubbed his temples. Prince Qi Fang Zhiyi had always been critical of him, and the Emperor had sensed something was off, but he didn’t want to dwell on it. The court was unstable now, with almost no one he could trust.
Could it be that even his own brother was his enemy?
Looking at the calm-faced Liu Xian, the Emperor felt a flicker of disgust. It was clear that Liu Xian was backing him into a corner to investigate Prince Qi!
The Emperor knew full well that the eunuch faction led by Liu Xian was locked in a deadly struggle with the Ningxi faction. Now that Prince Qi had openly sided with the Ningxi faction, Liu Xian was likely using this opportunity to destroy them.
But the Emperor also knew he had no choice. If only he were Emperor Taizong…
Alas.
Beyond the walls of the Great Zhou, the Liao Kingdom lurked like a hungry tiger. This throne was certainly a hot seat.
With these thoughts, the Emperor rose. “Let’s go.”
Deep down, he clung to a shred of hope. If Fang Zhiyi hadn’t done those things, then everything would be fine.
He could only hope.
The Emperor’s carriage arrived at Prince Qi’s mansion. Numerous spies scattered to report back to their masters.
Beneath the calm surface of the capital, a storm was brewing.
What surprised the Emperor was how unusually quiet Prince Qi’s mansion was today. His brother was known for loving lively gatherings, with many servants about, but today…
The Emperor frowned. A faint smell of blood hung in the air.
“His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!” a young eunuch shouted at the top of his lungs.
Liu Xian frowned. This Prince Qi was putting on quite the air.
After the call, it was a while before Fang Zhiyi came rushing over, with traces of sweat still visible on his face.
The Emperor watched him offer a sloppy bow but did not get angry. “Prince Qi, what have you been busy with?”
Fang Zhiyi glanced at Liu Xian. “Imperial Brother, I didn’t know you were coming. I was… taking care of a small matter.”
The Emperor looked at him quizzically. Liu Xian leaned in to whisper, “Your Majesty, according to the report, the item is hidden in the secret chamber beneath the rockery in the garden.”
The Emperor, his expression complicated, finally waved his sleeve. “Then I’ll take a look around your garden!”
“Huh?” Fang Zhiyi wanted to say something, but he watched as the Emperor’s party headed toward the garden.
Not far away, Li Zizai made a gesture toward Fang Zhiyi. Fang Zhiyi shook his head. Li Zizai nodded and stepped back. Then Fang Zhiyi caught up with the Emperor’s procession. They moved with purpose, as if they already knew the location of Fang Zhiyi’s secret chamber.
Under a young eunuch’s manipulation, a stone door appeared on the rockery and slowly opened.
The Emperor looked at the door, then turned to glance at Fang Zhiyi. His eyes were full of disappointment.
Urged on by Liu Xian, he stepped inside.
The secret chamber was not large. Inside hung a suit of armor, a blade, and a bow. Most of the space was filled with chests. The Emperor opened one and was stunned to find it packed with gold and silver treasure!
But soon, his gaze was drawn to the object in the center.
It was a bright yellow dragon robe, its five-clawed golden dragons so dazzling they stung the Emperor’s eyes.
“Your Majesty, the evidence is conclusive.” Liu Xian smirked triumphantly. With a wave of his hand, two of his men carefully lifted the dragon robe and presented it before the Emperor.
The Emperor stood motionless for a long time. Finally, he reached out and gently grasped the dragon robe.
Was this seat so desirable that everyone wanted to fight for it? Even his own brother? Did he know how hard it was to sit there?
At that moment, a letter fell out.
Liu Xian rejoiced, believing he had found evidence connecting Prince Qi to the Ningxi faction. He quickly bent down, picked it up, and respectfully handed it to the Emperor.
The Emperor took the letter and slowly opened it by the flickering light. He knew what this meant, but he was the Emperor, and there was no way around it.
But when he saw the first line of the letter, the Emperor froze.
“Imperial Brother! Don’t thank me! You live such a hard life as the Emperor. The other day at court, I noticed your dragon robe was torn. So I spent a fortune to have someone from Jiangnan secretly make you this new one. But they say making a dragon robe privately is a capital offense, so I dared not give it to you. I was planning to slip it to you on your birthday…”
What followed was a long string of rambling words, mainly about how frugal the Emperor was.
But to the Emperor, these words stirred a strange feeling in his heart.
He had believed that the evidence of Prince Qi’s rebellion was solid. Now, it seemed that his brother harbored no such thoughts at all. Instead, he had even remembered to make the Emperor a new dragon robe!
Beside him, Liu Xian, seeing the Emperor staring blankly at the letter, itched with curiosity and craned his neck, trying to catch sight of any rebellious names.
Suddenly, chaos erupted outside.
Then Fang Zhiyi stormed in. Liu Xian shouted in panic, “Protect the Emperor!” But even as he cried out, he was the first to retreat.
The two men Liu Xian had brought turned to attack, but Fang Zhiyi grabbed them with both hands and knocked them unconscious.
“Prince Qi! What do you think you’re doing?” the Emperor shouted in shock.
Fang Zhiyi glanced at him and muttered, “When it comes to rebellion, I’m a professional…”
“What did you say?” the Emperor asked, not catching it.
“I said, purge the evil from the court!” Fang Zhiyi declared. A sword appeared in his hand, and he thrust it straight at Liu Xian. Liu Xian had never expected Prince Qi to be so mad as to attack him right in front of the Emperor!
He drew his short blade to defend himself but discovered that Prince Qi was far more skilled than he appeared. In just a few moves, Fang Zhiyi knocked his blade away and pressed the tip of his sword against Liu Xian’s throat.
“Your Majesty, save me!” Liu Xian screamed in terror.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
